Serisis.

2:52 p.m. 21st Banem 1092.

With the most pressing issues resolved, the meeting room's atmosphere significantly improved. The ministers no longer sported tense expressions, but instead, calm smiles, eager to tackle the remaining issues. Everyone looked to the strong wisben at the center of the room, anticipating her next words.

Leila took in the room's atmosphere, gauging each person's expressions. After reading the room, she finally said, "You've all done an excellent job so far. Thank you for keeping this civil and respectful. Thankfully, we've cleared the most contentious issues. Now, let's go through the last few items on the list, shall we?"

Leila nodded as she received approving nods from the kings and then said, "Trade. The bedrock of every growing economy. We do not intend to change the status quo too much. Except that the Empire's territory will be a free-trade area. For those not cognizant with economic terms, this means that merchants would have to pay tariffs when taking their goods between cities or across borders." Leila glanced out the corner of her eyes at Miote, who sported a massive Cheshire grin. "To better explain the economic ramifications of this policy, I call on Miote, our Chief Economist."

Miote rose from his seat, sporting a brilliant smile as he bowed at the waist. He then acknowledged Leila and turned his attention to the round table's occupants. "Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. As the lovely Ms. Lightwood introduced, my name is Miote. I run the Hopeful Maggots' finances, and am in charge of overseeing the growth and allocation of the guild's funds."

"However, before any of this, I am first and foremost a merchant," admitted Miote. "Fortunately, my unique position as a Summoned merchant has granted me the time, opportunity, and ability to deliver goods across cities and country borders." Miote's smile turned wry as he recalled, "Unfortunately, during my time as a merchant, I saw first hand one of the major reasons why many Resident merchants tend to stick to a small province: It is far too expensive for ordinary merchants to trade across cities."

"Aside from the obvious cost and dangers of transporting goods, several cities and towns impose unreasonable tariffs on imported goods to line the pockets of the higher-ups." Miote's gaze turned hostile as he narrated, "I once had this horrible experience in a small town just north of Rosendun. I traveled from Kerta with some Iron ores, looking to sell them in this town because they were rare in the north. Only, I was met with an impossible 60% tax on reaching the gate. Keep in mind; I had to pay for these ores and also pay for transportation. A 60% tax would put me in the red. Naturally, I chose to leave that town and go elsewhere. Only later did I learn the reason for the tax. A mine owner had bribed several mayors to raise tariffs on iron ore. This way, his mine alone supplied about seven towns. And since he could control the output, this ensured there was always a scarcity, driving up the price of ores."

Miote folded his hands behind his back. "Now, you might think this is anecdotal evidence, but I can assure you: thousands of merchants face this problem every day. However, it has become so commonplace that they see it as a normal cost of doing business. Of course, this forces all but the absurdly rich to limit their activities to a small region."

"A free trade policy will eradicate this issue," Miote stated. "Also, it will encourage merchants to engage in business spanning country borders. This, in turn, will increase the chances of consumers receiving cheap, but high-quality goods as they will have far more options to choose from." Miote glanced at Asha and said, "This policy will also encourage migration between nations. With so many races mingling with each other, it won't be long before prejudice against certain races drops to an all-time low. The times of labeling certain tribes as war-races or savage will be long gone."

Asha revealed a hopeful smile as she nodded, but there were still traces of doubt in her eyes. Miote noticed the doubt but chose not to press the issue. Instead, he raised three fingers as he stated, "The most significant obstacles to prosperous trade among our nations, aside from unreasonable tariffs, are: Distance, Time, and Danger.

"Our countries are thousands of kilometers away from each other, and with current technology, it can take months to travel from between the cities." Miote paused and mock-glared at Kashi as he let out an exasperated sigh. "Unless, of course, you are a certain daeben. In which case, the rules don't apply it seems."

"Preach!" shouted a bored Syèl from a corner, drawing a round of loud laughter and chuckles at Kashi's expense. In turn, Kashi glared at Syèl, but the halben only revealed a toothy grin and winked.

Miote, meanwhile, waited for the commotion to die down. When the atmosphere had returned to normal, the chesch continued, "Thankfully, through the guidance of the gods, a group of brilliant minds at The Hopeful Maggots, with help from Aygorzi's dwarfs, have solved these issues with a series of inventions." Miote looked to his side and said, "Jade. If you please?"

Jade rose to her feet and looked at Kashi, who turned around and released a large screen from his inner world. The monitor sat on a small table, preventing it from falling over. Jade walked to the screen and took out a vid-crystal from her inventory. She then turned to the room and introduced herself with a cute smile, "Hey there, guys. Uh... I'm not so good with the formal stuff, so sorry in advance, okay?"

Luckily, Jade's energy was infectious, so no one took offense to her frivolous attitude. Seeing that she hadn't ruffled any feathers, Jade released a sigh of relief. "So, my name's Jade Yuhi. Technically, I don't have a formal position, but I am currently in charge of the Skyboat, Train, and other miscellaneous projects in Aygorzi. Today, I'm here to show off the fruits of our labors, and prove to you guys that your trust in us wasn't misplaced."

With those words, Jade slotted the vid-crystal into a compartment and then offered a quick prayer to every god in existence, as she pushed a button. Thankfully, the blank screen sprung to life, showcasing a playback of the skyboat floating in, and then flying laps around its hangar. Moments later, the screen switched to a train speeding down a track.

King Xafier and the Maggots did not react, but the rest of the room stared at the screen in shock and disbelief. It took all they had not to run to the screen itself and shake it to see what was inside.

Jade, seeing their reactions, revealed a proud grin. She puffed her chest and then said, "This is a video screen. It depicts things caught on a vid-crystal." Unfortunately, her explanation only brought more question marks floating above the audience's heads. Noticing this, she switched gears. "Uh... I'll explain this in detail later. What you need to know is that what you are looking at is something that happened a few days ago. Think of it like a... vision from the gods."

This time Jade's explanation got through to the crowd. Following which, after a short pause, they erupted with 'oohs' and 'aahs' as they stared at the train and skyboat on the screen.

Miote smiled, seizing the opportunity when the frenzy was at its highest to state, "These trains and skyboats will heavily cut down transportation times for merchants. According to our estimates, a flight from Aygorzi to Redmont Manor should take around 18-20 hours with no stops, and a train ride from Aygorzi to Riven should take roughly around 15 hours. This, I believe, is a marked improvement, don't you think so?"

"Brilliant!" The fastest to react was King Chu, who shot to his feet with intense joy and awe in his eyes. The primary reason he had agreed to this alliance in the first place was the prospect of receiving food from Rosendun. The refrigerators had initially pleased him as they could preserve foods over long distances. But now, with the skyboats, fresh produce could reach Serisis in under an hour. Furthermore, with the train tracks, those products could then be sent to any corner of the country within a day!

By his side, Chu Ling sent Paris a provocative, but appreciative smile. With a smile, she mouthed, 'Well done.'

In reply, Paris shook his head, pointed at Kashi, and then mouthed, 'He's the star.'

Princess Chu Ling's gaze grew heated as she turned to examine the daeben. Battle lust grew in her fervent gaze as her desire to fight Kashi exponentially grew. Meanwhile, King Parissius sipped his tea, choosing to pretend he did not see Chu Ling's fiery gaze. That was Kashi's problem now.

King Chu, oblivious to his daughter's exchange, regarded Miote with burning eyes. "Let me know if there is anything you need to fast-track their development. All of Serisis is at your disposal!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Miote acknowledged with a bow. He then admitted, "We require experienced handymen to build railway tracks and roads connecting every town and city in Rosendun, Merriheim, and of course, Serisis. From my understanding, Serians are currently the best in this field. I have seen your roads and buildings for myself. They are without compare on the continent."

"Roads connecting every town and city... A project of this magnitude," King Chu stared at Miote in shock.

"Yes, it will be expensive," Miote admitted. "But it is a price we must pay for progress."

"Father."

King Chu looked to his left to see his beautiful daughter, Chu Ming, holding a handkerchief with a compassionate smile. The King raised his hand to his cheeks and was surprised to find it wet. 'Oh, I'm crying.' Why wouldn't he be? He had just been worrying about how his people would find jobs to pay for the influx of food, and now Rosendun was offering an unbelievable opportunity.

It wasn't like Serisis had not considered expanding its roads to all its towns. But, unfortunately, the crown barely had enough money to keep the country afloat. It could not take on the monetary burden of any massive projects. But now, they had seen a glimpse into their future with Rosendun. As long as they could provide something worthy of export, Rosendun would have no problem footing the bill. This would create thousands of jobs and, in the process, get unwilling bandits off the highways.

King Chu's brows furrowed a bit as his thoughts reached this point. What would Serisis do when the constructions were all done with? They needed something. An export which the entire continent would appreciate. Only then could they raise their heads in pride and not worry about coin or jobs.

"There is one other thing we are in desperate need of," Jade said, cutting into the King's thoughts. "All our inventions rely on mana to work. If you know of any material or item that has high mana concentrations, we would be grateful."

"Crystal Mines!" shouted Chu Ming, causing her father's eyes to shine in realization. "I've come across tons of them while patrolling. Mines filled with nothing but mana crystals. We've never had a use for them, but could those be helpful to you?"

Kashi's brows shot up, and he shared a look with Jade, both wondering the same thing. 'What the hell kind of coincidence is this? Are we the main characters in some anime? How does something so wonderful happen without a lick of warning?' Kashi wondered how Serisis had not become a hegemon while having something as valuable as mana crystals littered around the country.

"Remember. Until you came along, the Artificer class was dead," Lunette said as if reading Kashi's mind. "I don't think anyone knew how to effectively use runes to manipulate mana, except probably the daeben, so no one searched for them."

Kashi's eyes widened as realization dawned. Lunette was right. This was a lucky case of the circumstances playing into his favor. If Artificers and array masters were prominent in this world, many countries would have sought out mana crystals to make new magic staffs and the likes. Unfortunately, any sorcerer could fill up a gemstone with mana for the paltry need of adding a few elements to an article of clothing.

"Excuse me. If we're talking about mana deposits, I have something that might interest you."

Kashi and the round table turned in surprise as the person who had spoken was someone from the crowd. King Xafier shot up from his seat upon seeing the speaker. Eyes wide, he exclaimed, "Farvulia? Rudega Farvulia?"

Rudega Farvulia revealed a wry smile as he stepped forward and bowed. "Yes. Your Majesty. The Farvulia family congratulates Your Majesty on ascending the throne."

King Xafier stared at Rudega in shock, but then remembering where he was, coughed and sat back down. "We will speak later. Please, tell us what you know."

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty." Rudega stepped forward and faced the kings with a steady gaze. "My people once built a tunnel from Daggerfall in case we needed to escape." This admission expectedly garnered harsh glares from the Serians in the room, but Rudega continued unfazed, "While down there, we discovered a river of mana. Unfortunately, it was very volatile and often exploded, causing several deaths. However, without a doubt, it is the most potent and pure source of mana on the continent right now. I do believe there should be more pockets of the mana river throughout Serisis. It might explain why this land is so rich in mana but can't grow vegetation. Mana—"

"Poisoning in the soil is way too thick!" Jade exclaimed with shining eyes and then turned to Kashi. "Hey! If what this guy's saying is true, we won't have to worry about mana for life!"

Hearing these words, King Chu excitedly looked at Rudega and said, "Did you say your name was Rudega? For this revelation, I award you a chance to tell your story before us all. I dare say you won't get another opportunity like this..."

SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PATREON STARS:

Residents: Andrew Maurer, Eli Calabria, Rusty Reaper, Cobalt_Storm, Eli Romero, Niyeban, Sarah Kinkade, Gamma2626, GodSpeed99, Antinium, Elijah N Scott, Sven Bucheit, Peccan, Chris Therkelsen, Jeff Belina, Christopher de Jesus, Merlin 253, Antinium

Adventurers: Hyproxy, Michael Barton, Matt Pieper, Mental_Napalm, Jamie Ibarra, Sven Buchheit, Oziel

Warriors: Ragnaf, Zwhei

The High Council: Sly, Jacob Morgan, StrikerPrince, Facemaster, Pumba

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